EDICOM wrote in a post that on July 16th, the Official Gazette of the Courts published the Bill on the promotion of electronic invoicing and creation of the accounting record for invoices in the Public Sector. According to the Spanish government the roll-out of electronic billing saves 51 million Euro every year. It would also save 2.3 million paper sheets.
Consequences for the public sector
As of 1 january 2014, the Spanish public sector has to be operating with a new invoice processing procedure: all public administrations will have an accounting record of receipts, whose managers will forward the information on invoices received to the Tax Authority. This should allow for immediate knowledge of the real economic situation, making it possible to set budgets more in line with the actual situation, and public accounts would consequently be more reliable.
Einvoicing for SME’s
For suppliers, the changes will not come into force until January 15th 2015 As of that date, the electronic invoice becomes mandatory for all those individuals who must file returns electronically under the tax regulations. There is a chance that the Spanish legislator may waive this requirement for invoices les than 5.000 Euros.
Under the new law, suppliers must submit and transact their receipts electronically via a general entry point for electronic invoices to be used by all Administrations. This will leave a record of the delivery date and means greater protection, since in the event of delayed payment by the Administration, the corresponding interests would need to be paid.
Another change in the wake of approval of this new law will be more streamlined invoice processing, thanks to the new technologies, while the use of instruments such as the digital seal and signature will enhance procedural security.
If you would like to find out more about the rollout of electronic invoicing in Spain, click here to access the Draft Bill published in the Official Parliamentary Gazette (http://www.congreso.es/public_oficiales/L10/CONG/BOCG/A/BOCG-10-A-55-1.PDF).
More initiatives carried out in recent years to encourage the use of electronic invoicing can be found here.
Cláudia Wada on 